1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wall plates for electrical wiring, and more specifically, to a flush mounted plate including an inward extended opening for the passage of cables and the like. The plate is capable of being separated, then reconnected and securely interlocked at its mating end to allow for oversized connectors and fittings to be passed therethrough.
2. Description of Related Art
Wall plates to cover electrical devices mounted in gem boxes are well known in the art. Wall box mounted devices such as switches and receptacles are commonly provided with a wall plate serving both as a decorative cover for the device and to prevent access to the areas which contain the electrical wiring. Such wall plates are usually mounted upon the device by one or more screws passing through openings in the plate and received in a threaded aperture in the device. In some installations, two or more devices are mounted in side-by-side relation with a corresponding wall plate for each device.
Other types of wall plates include plates that can be interlocked at their sides to provide for interchangeable wall panel assemblies for each configuration of electrical devices in any number of ganged gem boxes. Each wall plate includes specific openings to accommodate various electrical device apertures.
When communications devices such as stereo systems, televisions, computers, home theaters, etc. are to be placed in a room of a building structure, it is desirable to have the communication cable(s) leading to the equipment pass interiorly through the hollow wall structure to a position adjacent the equipment and then through an opening in the wall board to the equipment. A wall plate having a cable access opening may be mounted in the wall opening for extending the cable into the room and forming a neater look about the wall opening. This also provides a neater look in the room by avoiding the lengths of cable from being exposed in the room.
In the past, wall plates usually were simply flat plastic plates mountable to the wall over the holes in the walls, and the wall plates had access holes passing the cable(s) into the room. This formed a more “finished look” to the cable entry. However, when the hole in the wall plate was not occupied by a cable, or when the cable occupied less than all the space of the access hole, a person could see through the access hole in the wall plate and possibly see into the wall structure.
Later, wall plates were developed that have a cable support extension or “nose shield” that protrudes from the wall plate into the room, with the nose shield having a vertically facing opening that communicates with the horizontally facing access hole in the wall plate. The cable was extended from the access opening and through the nose shield and into the room for connection to the audio/video system, etc. This type of wall plate having a nose-shield has met with popular use since the nose-shield provides a visual barrier through the opening in the wall plate.
More recently, some electrical appliances, particularly flat screen televisions, are mounted directly to the wall, so that the protruding nose of a wall plate interferes with mounting the television in flat abutment with the surface of the wall. The wall plate can be displaced laterally or vertically with respect to the flat screen television with the opening of the nose of the wall plate directed toward the television so as to provide the least exposure of the cable. However, this arrangement does not hide the wall plate or the short run of the cable leading to the television set, and usually is considered visually unappealing.
However, there exists a need for a flush mounted plate including an inward extended opening that allows for the cable access opening to be split then reconnected, to allow for varying size wires and connectors to pass therethrough. Furthermore, there exists a need for the connected plate to withstand the pulling forces of wires and connectors that would otherwise separate the connected plate.